Abstract
Cut-marked and broken human bones are a recurrent feature of Magdalenian (~17–12,000 years BP, uncalibrated dates) European sites. Human remains at Gough’s Cave (UK) have been modified as part of a Magdalenian mortuary ritual that combined the intensive processing of entire corpses to extract edible tissues and the modification of skulls to produce skull-cups. A human radius from Gough’s Cave shows evidence of cut marks, percussion damage and human tooth marks, indicative of cannibalism, as well as a set of unusual zig-zagging incisions on the lateral side of the diaphysis. These latter incisions cannot be unambiguously associated with filleting of muscles. We compared the macro- and micro-morphological characteristics of these marks to over 300 filleting marks on human and non-human remains and to approximately 120 engraved incisions observed on two artefacts from Gough’s Cave. The new macro- and micro-morphometric analyses of the marks, as well as further comparisons with French Middle Magdalenian engraved artefacts, suggest that these modifications are the result of intentional engraving. The engraved motif comfortably fits within a Magdalenian pattern of design; what is exceptional in this case, however, is the choice of raw material (human bone) and the cannibalistic context in which it was produced. The sequence of the manipulations suggests that the engraving was a purposeful component of the cannibalistic practice, implying a complex ritualistic funerary behaviour that has never before been recognized for the Palaeolithic period.
Highlights
Engraving is usually associated with the intellectual creations of Homo sapiens [1], isolated finds of linear designs engraved on shells from Trinil in Java and on a number of personal ornaments and decorated bone tools associated with Neanderthals [3, 4] suggest that such behaviour was not restricted to this species [5]
To demonstrate that the incisions observed on the human radius (M54074) are the result of artistic engraving as opposed to butchery, we compared their micro-morphological characteristics to 322 filleting marks on human and non-human remains and to 119 engraving incisions observed on two artefacts from Gough’s Cave (S1 File)
Neanderthal skeletal elements used as retouchers have been described from the sites of Krapina (Croatia [50]), Les Pradelles (France [49, 51]) and Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium [52])
Summary
Engraving is usually associated with the intellectual creations of Homo sapiens [1], isolated finds of linear designs engraved on shells from Trinil in Java (ca. 0.5 million years [2]) and on a number of personal ornaments and decorated bone tools associated with Neanderthals [3, 4] suggest that such behaviour was not restricted to this species [5]. 0.5 million years [2]) and on a number of personal ornaments and decorated bone tools associated with Neanderthals [3, 4] suggest that such behaviour was not restricted to this species [5]. 40,000–34,000 BP), and reached its prime during the Magdalenian (ca.000000 years BP [6,7,8,9], uncalibrated dates). Throughout this latter period we see the development of rich decorative forms, with many portable objects on bone, antler and ivory engraved with animal representations (e.g., [10,11,12,13]) or geometric designs (e.g., [14,15,16,17]). With the possible exception of an engraved human skull from the Magdalenian site of Isturitz
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